Spinner game including a standard deck of cards



' June 10, 1969 FQQTE, 5R I 3,448,983

SPINNER GAME INCLUDING A STANDARD DECK OF CARDS 'Filed Feb. 26, 1965 INL/ENTOR.

United States Patent 3,448,983 SPINNER GAME INCLUDING A STANDARD DECK 0F. CARDS Russell A. Foote, Sr., 1615 E. White Ave., Fresno, Calif. 93728 Filed Feb. 26, 1965, Ser. No. 435,603 Int. Cl. A63f 3/00, 1/18; A63b 71/00 U.S. Cl. 273135 The invention relates to the active method of play, when used in conjunction with game board, figure 1, of the accompanying drawing, at which suit position, figure 6, on game board, figure 1, of the accompanying drawing, a player shall be seated, and this said player shall turn, face up, and play, a standard poker card, figure 8, shown on accompanying drawing, from a face down stack of thirteen standard poker cards, figure 7, shown on accompanying drawing, and then this player shall spin a spinner, figure 3, shown on accompanying drawing, and score, figure 4, shown on accompanying drawing, this figure 4, being a facsimile of one of the fifty two cards of a standard poker deck, the other fifty one standard poker card facsimiles being set in the same way as figure 4, around the carded circle, figure 2, on game board, figure 1, of the accompanying drawing, or, score a facsimile of a suit symbol of a standard poker card, figure 5, on carded circle, figure 2, of accompanying drawing, of which there are the other three suit symbol facsimiles of a standard poker deck, evenly spaced around the carded circle as like figure 5, on carded circle, figure 2, of accompanying drawing, and either or any of these cards just described, as like figure 4, or figure 5, on carded circle, figure 2, of accompanying drawing, shall be scored against turned up standard poker card, figure 8, shown on game board, figure 1, of accompanying drawing, or shall be scored against any one of the other fifty one standard poker cards, depending on which one is so turned up, all of which the foregoing active method of play is fully described in detail in the following Rules of Play of this game of Suit Yourself which is the continuance of this specification, as follows:

This game of Suit Yourself can be played by two, three, or four players. As you will notice, the game board, figure 1, has four suit positions, figure 6, namely, HEARTS, CLUBS, DIAMONDS, and SPADES. Before the actual play begins, each player seats himself at a suit position, figure 6, at the game board, figure 1, and the suit of the suit symbol at that suit position, shall be considered and referred to as that players suit, as long as he is sitting at that suit position at the game board. The choice of suit positions shall be determined by high card draw, with each player drawing one card from a shuffled deck of standard poker cards, with the player drawing the highest card, getting first choice, the player drawing the second highest card, second choice, and so on. When two or four players are playing, a draw for change of suit positions after each game is not necessary if all the players agree to keep their same suit positions. If not, then a high card dra-w would be in order. When three players are playing, however, a draw for change of suit positions after each game is the rule. This should be done in order to try and see that the advantage or disadvantage of one player handling two suit positions at the same time would be more evenly divided.

In our explanation of the playing rules here, we shall assume that four players are playing, and now, after the four players are seated at their respective suit positions, figure 6, around the game board, figure 1, the player who won the high card draw for choice of suit position, becomes the dealer, with the duties of dealer changing to a new player after each game, going clockwise around the game board, figure 1. The dealers duties shall be to shufiie the deck of poker cards and deal out thirteen cards 1 Claim 3,448,983 Patented June 10, 1969 to each player, including himself, and also to keep a plus and minus score of the wins and losses for each player, including himself, on the plus and minus score sheet. After the cards are dealt, each player stacks his thirteen cards, face down, and places his stack, figure 7, of the accompanying drawing, to the right of his suit symbol, figure 6, of the accompanying drawing.

The meaning of the terms, ACTIVE player, and SCORED player, which will be mentioned here in the rules of play, is as follows: The ACTIVE player, is the player who turns up a card from his turned down stack, figure 7, and places it face up, figure 8, and then spins the spinner, figure 3, and scores a card, figure 4, or a suit symbol, figure 5, with the spinner, figure 3, on the carded circle, figure 2, on the game board, figure 1, of the accompanying drawing. The SCORED player, is the player who has a card of his own suit, as like figure 6, on the game board, figure 1, scored with the spinner, figure 3, on the carded circle, figure 2, by the active player, with this scored card by the active player, being one of the fifty two cards as like, figure 4, or one of the four suit symbols as like figire 5, on the carded circle, figure 2, as shown on the accompanying drawing. Any player, however, can become both the ACTIVE player, and the SCORED player, when, as the ACTIVE player, he turns up a card of his own suit, as like, figure 6, on the game board, figure 1, from his stack, figure 7, on the game board, figure 1, which turned up card, figure 8, on the game board, figure 1, would be of the same suit as that of his suit symbol, figure 6, on the game board, figure 1, and then this same ACTIVE player spins the spinner, figure 3, on the game board, figure 1, and scores a card of his own suit, the same suit as his suit symbol at his suit position, as like, figure 6, on the game board, figure 1, and this scored card is scored on the carded circle, figure 2, on the game board, figure 1, all of which is indicated on the accompanying drawing, and in this play, described above, the player would have become both the ACTIVE player, and the SCORED player.

Now, we are ready for active play, with the play going clockwise around the game board, figure 1, and with the first active player being the player to the left of the dealer. Now, the active player turns over the top card from his turned down stack of thirteen cards, figure 7, on the game board, figure 1, of the accompanying drawing, and places this card face up, figure 8, on game board, figure 1, of the accompanying drawing, Then this active player spins the spinner, figure 3, on game board, figure 1, of the accompanying drawing, and scores a higher card as like, figure 4, on the carded circle, figure 2, on game board, figure 1, of the accompanying drawing (of a suit other than his own), as like, figure 6, on game board, figure 1, and this scored card on the carded circle, figure 2, on game board, figure 1, is of an higher value than the card turned up by this active player, figure 8, on game board, figure 1, of the accompanying drawing, and the player whose suit position at the game board, as like figure 6, is of the same suit as the card scored by the active player on the carded circle, as like figure 4, wins the difference between the value of the active players turned up card, figure 8, and the scored card on the carded circle, figure 2, and he, the scored player wins just the difference from the active player, except, when the turned up card of the active player, figure 8, and the card scored by the active player on the carded circle, figure 4, are of the same suit, and also of the same suit as the scored players suits symbol at his suit position at the game board, as like figure 6. In this case the scored player wins twice the difference from the active player, because both the active players turned up card, figure 8, and the scored players scored card, figure 4, are of the same suit as that of the scored players suit symbol, figure 6, at his suit position at figure 6. If, however, the reverse of the two cards was true, and the turned up card of the active player, figure 8, was higher than the card scored by the active player, figure 4, on the carded circle, figure 2, then the active player wins the difference between the value of the two cards from the scored player whose suit card as like figure 6, was scored on the carded circle, figure 2, and if the active players turned up card, figure -8, and the scored card on the carded circle, figure 4, are of the same suit as the scored players suit symbol at his suit position, figure 6, then the active player wins twice the difference between the value of his, the active players turned up card, figure 8, and the scored players card, figure 4, and the active player wins this difference from the scored player whose suit card as like figure 6, was scored on the carded circle by the active player.

There are two variations to the above which are as follows: If the active player turns up a card, figure 8, and it is of any other suit and not a card of his suit that matches up with his suit symbol at his suit position, as like figure 6, and then this active player spins the spinner, figure 3, and scores a card on the carded circle, as like figure 4, and this card that he scores is of his own suit as like the suit symbol at his suit position, figure 6, then the player whose suit position at the game board, as like figure 6, is of the same suit as that of the active players turned up card, figure 8, wins or loses the difference in value of the two cards, from or to the active player, depending on the difference in value of the two cards, or which is the higher or lower in point value of the two cards.

Now, we come to variation 2, which is as follows: If the active player turns up a card, figure 8, of his own suit, which would be of the same suit as that of his suit symbol at his suit position, as like figure 6, and then he spins the spinner, figure 3, and scores a higher card of his own suit on the carded circle, as like figure 4, he, the active player, who is also the scored player in this case, would win only the difference in value between the two cards, from each of the other three players, not twice the difference, and he would win this full single difference from each player, and if the active player, who would also be the scored player in this case, should turn up a card of his own suit, and score a lower card of his own suit on the carded circle, he would lose only the difference in value between the two cards to the other three players, not twice the difference, and he would lose this single difference to each of the other three players, it being obvious, of course, that the player who turns up a card of his own suit, and scores a card of his own suit, automatically stands to win or lose three times the difference between the value of the two cards, and the reason for this is, that when a player turns up a card of his own suit, and scores a card of his own suit, there is no conflict of suits between him and any one of the other three players, therefore, when he scores against himself, the rule is, that he shall win or lose, from or to, all three of the other players, as there is no single one of them that could be singled out as being in conflict with his suit score. This of course is fair, as it applies to all the players, whenever, and to whoever, this sort of play occurs.

Now, we come to the scoring of the suit symbols, figure 5, on the carded circle, figure 2, on game board 1, these suit symbols being, namely, HEARTS, CLUBS, DIAMONDS and SPADES. If an active player turns up a card, figure 8, on game board, figure 1. and then spins the spinner, figure 3, and then scores a suit symbol, figure 5, on the carded circle, figure 2, and this suit symbol is of a suit other than his own, as like the suit symbol at his suit position, figure 6, on the game board, figure 1, he, the active player, shall pay the face value of his turned up card, figure 8, to the player whose suit position, figure 6, at the game board, figure 1, is

of the same suit as the suit symbol, like figure 5, on the carded circle, figure 2, that was scored on the carded circle, figure 2, by the active player, and if the active players turned up card, figure -8, is of the same suit as the suit symbol, figure 5, that was scored on the carded circle, figure 2, then the player whose suit symbol at his suit position at the game board, figure 6, is of the same suit as the suit symbol scored on the carded circle, figure 5, wins twice the face value of the active players turned up card, figure 8. On the other hand, if an active player turns up a card, figure '8, of any suit but his own, which would be like the suit symbol at his suit position, figure 6, and then spins the spinner, figure 3, and scores his own suit symbol on the carded circle, figure 2, then the player whose suit position at the game board, figure 1, is of the same suit as that of the active players card, figure 8, shall pay the face value of the active players turned up card, figure 8, to the active player, not twice the face value. Now, if an active player turns up a card of his own suit, figure 6, which would be of the same suit as that of his suit symbol at his suit position at the game board, figure 1, and then spins the spinner figure 3, and scores his own suit symbol, figure 5, on the carded circle, figure 2, then he, the active player, would win once the face value of his turned up card, figure 8, from each of the other three players, not twice, and he would win and get the full single face value from each of the other three players. If a player spins and scores a card of the same value as the one he turned up, no one wins or loses, and the next player plays.

Now, we come to the case of two and three players playing, with the method of choosing suit positions, and the dealer, being the same as when four players are playing, with thirteen cards also being dealt out to each suit position. In the case of two players playing, however, there shall be two unoccupied suit positions at the game board. In this case, after the draw for suit positions has been completed, the losing player must seat himself opposite the winning player, and as the play progresses clockwise around the game board, each of the two players shall turn up the cards and do the spinning for the unoccupied suit position to his right, as well as his own, as the turn comes up around the game board, with the plus and minus amounts for the both suit positions of each player being scored separately in their respective columns on the plus and minus score sheet, and when the game is over, the plus and minus amounts for the unoccupied suit position, as well as his own, shall be received or paid by the player who had been playing those suit positions. All of the above rules shall also apply when three players are playing, in the same way as with two or four players, even though, unlike in the two player game, there will only be one unoccupied suit position when three players are playlng. In this case too, though, after the three players are seated, and as the play progresses clockwise around the game board, the player with the unoccupied suit position to his right shall take over its play of turning up its cards and spinning, along with his own suit position, as the turn comes up around the game board, just like in the two player game, with the plus and minus amounts for the two suit positions being scored separately in their respective columns on the plus and minus score sheet, and when the game is over, the plus and minus amounts for the unoccupied suit position, as well as his own, shall be received or paid by the player who had been playing both suit positions.

During the play of the game, the spinner shall always be spun so as to make at least three complete revolutions around the carded circle, going clockwise, and if a player spins the spinner, and the point of the spinner stops on a line between two cards, the card to the right of the line, going clockwise around the carded circle, shall be considered the scoring card. If there is any question as to whether or not the point of the spinner has stopped on a line, the player who is to become the next active player, shall turn over the top card of his stack, and place it face up to the right of his stack, ready for play, and if it is a black card, the point of the spinner in the play in question shall be considered as having stopped on the line. If it is a red card, then the card that the point of the spinner seems to have favored on the carded circle, shall be considered the scoring card. Then the game shall continue on, and this next player shall spin and play his turned up card. The point value of the cards is as follows: All suits, namely, HEARTS, CLUBS, DIAMONDS and SPADES, shall be considered of equal value. All twos shall be valued as twos, all threes, as threes, and so on, up to the tens. All jacks shall be valued as eleven, all queens, as twelve, all kings, as thirteen, and all aces, as fourteen.

For those who are not acquainted with a plus and minus score sheet. For example: Lets say the game has just started, and CLUBS, being the first player, has won nine points from HEARTS. The first entry in the CLUB column on the score sheet would be +nine, and the first entry in the HEART column on the score sheet would be -nine. Now lets say DIAMONDS lost ten points to HEARTS. The first entry in the DIAMOND column on the score sheet would be ten, but HEARTs second entry, below his first entry of nine, would be +ne, because HEARTS had been nine, and won ten, so -nine from +ten leaves +one. When the game is over, the last entry for each player should be what he won or lost, or what he was plus or minus, with the plus and minus totals balancing out. Then the minus players pay the plus players.

I claim:

1. In combination: a deck of fifty-to standard playing cards and a game board; said game board comprising a circular array of fifty-six sectors, fifty-two of which \res'pectively bear indicia identical to the individual indicia of said cards, and the remaining four sectors each having thereon a suit symbol facsimile respectively of a Heart, a Club, a Diamond and a Spade, acting as scoring indicia; said game board having a centrally mounted spinner whereby any one of said fifty-six sectors can be indicated thereby; four additional suit symbol facsimiles each disposed on said game board approximately ninety degrees apart to respectively indicate the playing positions of the players and associating each playing position with the corresponding sectored suit symbol facsimile; whereby a plurality of players, each associated with one of said sectored suit symbols, are dealt thirteen cards face down "and wherein the scoring of a win or loss is determined by a players spinning of said spinner on the game board with said players win or loss depending on the difference in value between the players turned up card of his deck of thirteen cards and the gameboard card indicia indicated by said spinner.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,397,890 8/1968 Newton.

ANTON O. OECHSLE, Primary Examiner.

A. W. KRAMER, Assistant Examiner.

U.S. Cl. X.R. 

1. IN COMBINATION: A DECK OF FIFTY-TO STANDARD PLAYING CARDS AND A GAME BOARD; SAID GAME BOARD COMPRISING A CIRCULAR ARRAY OF FIFTY-SIX SECTORS, FIFTY-TWO OF WHICH RESPECTIVELY BEAR INDICIA IDENTICAL TO THE INDIVIDUAL INDICIA OF SAID CARDS, AND THE REMAINING FOUR SECTORS EACH HAVING THEREON A SUIT SYMBOL FACSIMILE RESPECTIVELY OF A HEART, A CLUB, A DIAMOND AND A SPADE, ACTING AS SCORING INDICIA; SAID GAME BOARD HAVING A CENTRALLY MOUNTED SPINNER WHEREBY ANY ONE OF SAID FIFTY-SIX SECTORS CAN BE INDICATED THEREBY; FOUR ADDITIONAL SUIT SYMBOL FACSIMILES EACH DISPOSED ON SAID GAME BOARD APPROXIMATELY NINETY DEGREES APART TO RESPECTIVELY INDICATE THE PLAYING POSITIONS OF THE PLAYERS AND ASSOCIATING EACH PLAYING POSITION WITH THE CORRESPONDING SECTORED SUIT SYMBOL FACSIMILE; WHEREBY A PLURALITY OF PLAYERS, EACH ASSOCIATED WITH ONE OF SAID SECTORED SUIT SYMBOLS, ARE DEALT THIRTEEN CARDS FACE DOWN AND WHEREIN THE SCORING OF A WIN OR LOSS IS DETERMINED BY A PLAYER''S SPINNING OF SAID SPINNER ON THE GAME BOARD WITH SAID PLAYER''S WIN OR LOSS DEPENDING ON THE DIFFERENCE IN VALUE BETWEEN THE PLAYER''S TURNED UP CARD OF HIS DECK OF THIRTEEN CARDS AND THE GAMEBOARD CARD INDICIA INDICATED BY SAID SPINNER. 